New and Noteworthy
The largest gift in the history of UT Knoxville will help build a new Electrical and Computer Engineering Building. Dr. Min Kao (Knoxville ’77), chairman and CEO of Garmin Ltd., gave $12.5 million for the building and $5 million for programs. The state of Tennessee committed $25 million toward the new building. [read more]
UT received more than $257 million in research awards in 2004.
The University of Tennessee Institute for Public Service generated $436 million in economic impact in Tennessee during 2005. The institute, which works with businesses and governments throughout Tennessee, helped create almost 7,700 jobs.
Brian Lambert made history at UT Chattanooga when he became the campus’ first Ph.D. graduate. He earned a doctorate in computational engineering.
Dr. Kevin Foley at the UT Health Science Center in Memphis has created an implant that relieves chronic back pain by restoring the disc space between the vertebrae. Foley’s techniques are minimally invasive and can be performed on an outpatient basis. [read more]
The UT Institute of Agriculture delivers $1.3 billion in benefits to society on an annual budget of $90 million in state and federal funds, achieving a 14-1 return on each funding dollar over six years.
UT Knoxville advanced to 38th among public research universities in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings. [read more]
The UT College of Nursing in Knoxville is offering the nation’s first graduate degree concentration in homeland security nursing. Doctoral and master’s degree students began studies this fall in the new program, which teaches how to deal with mass casualty disasters. The U.S. Health Resources Service Administration provided more than $650,000 for the program. [read more]
The UT campus in Knoxville will be home to a new Joint Institute for Advanced Materials. The federal government has appropriated $20 million for the facility, which will strengthen collaborative efforts between UT and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. [read more]
The 2005 freshman class at UT Knoxville is the best ever, as measured by grades and standardized test scores. Admitted freshmen had an average ACT score of 25.6 and a 3.54 high school grade point average. Almost 30 percent had perfect 4.0 high school averages.
Four UT alumni are ambassadors to other nations. In October 2005, President Bush nominated Ronald Schlicher (’81) as ambassador to Cyprus. Others are Victor Ashe (’74), Poland; Michael Polt (’77), Serbia and Montenegro; and Margaret Scobey (’71, ’73), Syria. Scobey was recalled earlier this year in response to Syrian political unrest.
Former Senator Howard Baker (’49) was ambassador to Japan until retiring in early 2005.
Vice President Dick Cheney was among the dignitaries who helped break ground for UT’s Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy. Baker (’49) is former Senate majority leader, White House chief of staff, and ambassador to Japan. [read more]
UT Martin is among the top 25 master’s level public universities in the South, according to U.S. News & World Report. UT Martin tied for 20th place, the highest ranking ever achieved by the university in the annual listings. Also, PrincetonReview.com listed UT Martin as one of 136 schools to receive a “Best in the Southeast” designation. read more]
UT Knoxville is the largest customer of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Green Power Switch program. UT increased its renewable electricity purchases nine-fold after a student-led initiative.
Better Lives for Tennesseans
Two varieties of soybeans developed by University of Tennessee Experiment Station researchers beat the competition by five bushels per acre in southern region trials. They are now the USDA benchmark against which other new varieties are tested.
4-H, the youth development component of UT Extension, involves 382,000 young people and 17,000 volunteers throughout Tennessee. 4-H is the largest youth development program in Tennessee.
UT’s Center for Business and Economic Research in Knoxville forecasts Tennessee’s economy for state government. The center’s Economic Report to the Governor is the official annual forecast for state programming and budget planning.
UT’s Institute for Public Service responds to more than 18,000 requests per year for assistance from government and business officials.
UT-Battelle, along with Tech 20/20, has contributed to the startup of 61 companies since 2000. UT-Battelle manages Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy.
Doctors and students at the UT College of Veterinary Medicine treat an average of 36,000 animals a year, including 18,000 cattle. UT has the largest avian and exotic animal caseload of any U.S. veterinary college.
UT crop variety test research and demonstrations included more than 11,000 plots last year. More than 90 percent of the state’s producers choose varieties based on UT data. An additional $80 million in farm income is generated by 50 percent of the producers statewide adopting higher yielding varieties.
Hamilton County chose UT Chattanooga as the home for its Center for Entrepreneurial Growth. Students and faculty members in engineering and business will work with CEG clients to develop business plans, research and develop products, and launch new ventures.
The state of Tennessee has funded buildings for three UT-Oak Ridge National Laboratory Joint Institutes in Oak Ridge. They serve as gateways to world-class science installations, including the Spallation Neutron Source and the National Leadership Computing Facility.
Great Grads
The University of Tennessee awarded more than 9,000 degrees last year.
University of Tennessee alumni head many major corporations including DuPont, Johns Manville, AutoZone, EchoStar, Rockwell Collins, Hawaiian Tropic, and Ceridian.
Among UT’s faculty and alumni are seven Rhodes scholars, six Pulitzer Prize winners, a Nobel laureate, and 11 astronauts.
Of National Note
UT is a partner in managing Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the nation’s largest science and energy laboratory. UT and Oak Ridge share 35 joint faculty and six joint institutes.
The University of Tennessee is the only university in the nation to have three presidential papers editing projects. The university has collections of the papers of all three U.S. presidents from Tennessee—Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, and Andrew Johnson.
The Lady Vols basketball team has won six national championships under Coach Pat Summitt, a national leader in career victories.
UT is home to a one-of-a-kind National Forensic Academy that has trained crime scene investigators from 37 states. Renowned crime novelist Patricia Cornwell is a benefactor of the program, run by the university’s Institute for Public Service. Those who attend the academy study at another one-of-a-kind place, UT’s Anthropological Research Facility, where they learn to work with human skeletal remains. [read more]
The UT College of Pharmacy enrolls the largest percentage of African American students (15.6%) of any U.S. pharmacy school, except for historically black institutions.
UT nutritionist Michael Zemel has established that incorporating dairy foods into a reduced-calorie regime can help dieters lose weight. His latest work shows that dieters who eat as many as four servings a day of dairy foods lose more weight than those who eat less dairy. [read more]
Nationally Ranked Programs
UT’s College of Business Administration Master of Accountancy program is ranked #20 in the nation by the CPA Personnel Report’s 23rd Annual Survey of Accounting Professors.
The University of Tennessee supply chain management/logistics programs ranked #2 in the U.S. as published in Supply Chain Management Review, the industry’s most respected executive-oriented publication. [read more]
The UT Health Science Center Department of Ophthalmology ranks ninth among the U.S. leaders in clinical care, as listed by Ophthalmology Times.
The Joel A. Katz Law Library in the UT College of Law is ninth best in the nation according to National Jurist magazine. The rankings are based on such factors as number of volumes, ratio of librarians to students, and number of hours a week the library is open.
UT ranked 44th among public universities in the University of Florida Lombardi Program's list of top research universities. The survey looked at universities' commitment to research and faculty excellence. UT had $185,437,000 in total research funds as of 2002, ranked 65th in the nation; $88,167,000 in federal research, ranked 74th in the nation; $444,146,000 in endowments as of 2003, ranked 90th in the nation; $102,016,000 in annual giving in 2003, ranked 43rd in the nation; one faculty member in the National Academy; 262 doctorates granted in 2003, ranked 48th nationally; and 131 post-doctoral appointees in 2002, ranked 86th in the nation.
The Shanghai Jiao Tong University ranked UT as tied for 101st place in their list of the top 500 universities around the world. The university used four criteria in making their rankings: quality of education, based on alumni who have received Nobel prizes and Fields awards; quality of faculty, based on faculty members who have won Nobel prizes and Fields awards and faculty who are highly cited by their peers; research output as measured by faculty articles published in Nature and Science and articles in Science Citation Index and Social Science Citation Index; and the size of the institution.
Great Places
A completion date of 2008 is forecast for the $42.8 million College of Pharmacy Building at the UT Health Science Center in Memphis. The college is perennially ranked among the best in the nation.
Construction is underway to renovate and expand Glocker Business Administration Building at UT Knoxville. The new $40 million structure will include classrooms equipped for wireless Internet and teleconferencing.
A building boom at UT Chattanooga has brought $275 million worth of capital improvements to the campus, including a renovated University Center and new apartment-style housing.
The UT Martin Electrical Generation Facility, located near campus, will help control utility costs and channel more funds to academics. The $4.9 million structure will serve as a laboratory for business and engineering students. [read more]
Generous Friends
Alumni and other friends gave the University of Tennessee more than $80 million last year.
The University of Tennessee athletic department at Knoxville contributes more than $30 million a year to the university in the form of scholarships, travel expenses for the Pride of the Southland Marching Band, free or reduced rate tickets, and licensing revenue. The athletic department is self-supporting and receives no state appropriations.
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